Chapter 239

Simultaneously, several sharp rock spears rose around Roan.

They were sharper than spears made by a decent blacksmith, and their dark, dull color made them look terrifying if one were to encounter them on the street.

—Hieek! It’s the Great Demon King!

—Did Lord Deprua go that far?

Watching the rock spears surrounded as if to guard him, Roan really looked like the Great Demon King.

“Uh… hm…”

Even Anne stepped back slightly and was hesitating.

‘Damn it, do those devils have no pride?’

Even if his talent stat was 100, how could they survive in the harsh Demon Realm if they lent their power so easily to a novice black mage they had never met before?

*Vrrr—*

*Ahem, in my opinion.*

Then, the False Divinity cautiously chimed in.

‘If you say this is your doing again, I’ll really discard your authority.’

Fortunately, it wasn’t that.

*Setting aside your talent, I think they are more excited because the opportunity to interfere with the Holy Spirit’s Attribute Stone is so rare.*

‘Ah?’

It was a fairly plausible interpretation.

Normally, just attempting to put power into the Attribute Stone would have dealt a blow to their true body in the Demon Realm.

‘He’d be lucky if it was just a blow; if things went wrong, Harden might even invade them personally.’

Meaning that since there was no such risk(?) this time thanks to Roan and the False Divinity, the mischievous devils had lent their power on their own.

*Vrrr—*

*Hmm, although there seems to be one more reason besides that.*

‘What is it now?’

*You do not need to know.*

‘What a pointless authority.’

Roan turned to Anne and asked.

“May I step down?”

“Hmm…”

Anne seemed to contemplate for a moment.

Then, she suddenly glanced upward and quickly made a decision.

“Let’s try one more!”

…It seemed her confidence had been heavily recharged, likely due to the revelation Eucherim had delivered.

The next sequence was wind.

Feeling ‘whatever happens, happens,’ Roan casually placed his hand on the Attribute Stone.

*Kwooooo—!!!!*

—Ugh, argh!

—What is this!

Soon, a massive gale began to sweep through the waiting room.

While Sion’s wind was warm and cozy, Roan’s was practically a typhoon itself!

“Roaaann!! What have you done!!! It’s not even Professor Gulba’s class!!!”

*Flutter— Flutter—*

Demona was barely holding onto the chair in front of her right before flying away, fluttering like a flag.

In fact, Demona was actually in a relatively good position.

—Hey, isn’t this wind a bit strange?

—Darc caused it, didn’t he?

—A-Ah, no, does normal wind usually make the skin sting like this?

—You fool, think of the punitive holy art Darc usually uses! Wouldn’t it hurt?

—Ah!

Some students tilted their heads, sensing a suspicious(?) energy in the strong wind.

There were no visible wounds, but it was somehow more painful and unpleasant than normal wind!

This was especially true for students from heretic inquisitor or holy knight families.

‘…I must stop quickly.’

Roan, who knew all the inner details, quietly took his hand off the Attribute Stone.

Then, the wind subsided and the waiting room became quiet as if nothing had happened.

*Thud—!*

“Argh! Roan, what do you mean by stopping so suddenly!”

Demona, who had been fluttering like a flag, fell flat on her face on the floor.

Roan conveyed to Anne with his expression whether she would make him do more even after this.

No, if she did make him, he had a mind to do it out of sheer spite.

Since the only remaining attribute was fire, he could have delivered a fiery finale.

However, Anne also felt that any further was too much, so she shook her head.

“I-I think this is enough… You get a perfect score. You may return.”

“Are you not going to make me do the fire attribute?”

“Y-Yes.”

“May I ask why?”

“Because the Great Temple must not burn down.”

“Ah, I see.”

It was an excellent reason Roan had no choice but to agree with.

If the Great Temple of Nerchiora were to be damaged, he didn’t even want to imagine what would follow.

Roan nodded and returned to his seat.

“Ow, ow…”

Demona was still groaning and holding her head after hitting the ground hard.

“Roan, did you by any chance mix a punitive holy art into the wind?”

“…The wind was just strong.”

“I don’t think that’s it…”

Hector clutched his exposed skin in pain.

On the other hand, Sion’s expression was not very good.

Roan asked in concern.

‘Surely she didn’t notice, did she?’

If she had realized that a devil’s power was mixed in the wind…

*Vrrr—*

“I told you, there’s no way!”

Frankly, if Sion had noticed it, the entirety of Acherandir would have been turned upside down by now.

As the False Divinity had said, Sion’s concern was about something completely different.

Sion blinked her large eyes anxiously and asked Roan.

“Um, by any chance, was it like this when I placed my hand on the Attribute Stone too?”

“…No.”

“Whew…”

Sion only felt relieved once Roan shook his head.

‘If I had found my secondary attribute so violently, I would have been disqualified as a Saintess candidate!’

Although she didn’t speak it aloud, Roan, who could clearly see what Sion was thinking, felt annoyed.

‘I wanted to do it peacefully too!’

If he had prayed to the gods and found his secondary attribute normally, he would have gotten by without a hitch, but because of the devils’ power, it couldn’t be helped.

However, no matter how unfair it was, he was a black mage, so he had to endure it.

“Ugh.”

Roan pondered when the word ‘peace’ would ever dwell in his destiny.

*Vrrr—* *Thump—*

*You might as well wish for the Holy Spirit to be reincarnated as a human.*

*Come on, brother, does that make any sense?*

*…Do you not even know idioms?*

The two authorities made Roan’s insides boil even more.

* * *

“Thank you all for your hard work. Even if you did not pass the pop quiz, there are many opportunities to make up for your score, so continue to strive diligently.”

—Yes, Assistant!

Not long after Roan’s turn passed, the class ended.

Although there were no eye-catching events like Roan’s or Sion’s, the students searching for secondary attributes was still a quite interesting sight to behold.

On the way out of the Great Temple of Nerchiora.

Rafia stretched and spoke.

“The pop quiz is actually more fun than I thought! It’s beneficial too~”

Roan tilted his head.

“Beneficial?”

“Yes! We found our secondary attributes, and we learned new prayers!”

“Oho.”

Roan admired Rafia’s positive mindset.

And he made an effort to learn from her way of thinking.

In a world that was already harsh, didn’t one need to live like that to make life worth living?

‘I also learned that devils lend their power just like that, and that I won’t easily get caught, so was it beneficial?’

*Vrrr—*

*Kyakyakya, as if that would be the case!*

‘…Right?’

However, no matter how much he thought about it, Roan felt that his situation was not beneficial at all.

“It would be nice if it were only beneficial…”

*Sshhhh—*

As Roan spoke lamentingly, the atmosphere among his friends cooled down rapidly.

Roan had only said it because his own lot felt miserable, but to his friends’ ears, they couldn’t help but interpret it.

‘Ah, what on earth is left for the upcoming pop quizzes?’

Because it had given them the exact same worry.

…Actually, their worry wasn’t that far off.

Roan tilted his head when his friends’ atmosphere suddenly turned strange.

‘Are these guys black mages too?’

He had to make at least this much of a joke to ease his mood.

“Anyway, it’s good that you are so positive, Rafia.”

“Huh? Ah, thanks! Actually, passing the pop quiz this time was all thanks to you, Roan.”

“Me too…”

“Yes, thank you for teaching us the prayers.”

The friends each conveyed their gratitude to Roan.

It was the same for Sion.

“Me too, Roan. Thank you so much. But where on earth did you see Sowidrin Volume 7?”

Since it would look a bit strange even for Roan to claim he had read the scriptures with his parents in a dream, he came up with the next best excuse that worked well.

“At the Holy Emperor’s Palace.”

“As I thought!”

‘…Thanks for believing me.’

Sion nodded, clutching her fists as if her guess had been correct.

In any case, when the friends all said thank you to Roan, Demona also chimed in, refusing to be outdone.

“I thank you too, Roan!”

“””???”””

Hector immediately kept her in check.

“Why are you thanking him when Roan didn’t even teach you a prayer?”

But Demona burst out in anger at Hector.

“Do you only say thank you when there’s an immediate reason to be thankful? What an opportunist. Roan helps us so much, we should live with a heart of gratitude always!”

It was a truth so right that there was nothing to say!

Frankly, the friends, who had initially thought similarly to Hector, immediately changed their stance.

First, Sion.

“That’s true, Hector. Roan helps us so much.”

Next, Rafia.

“Yes, Demona can thank Roan too.”

Finally, Riel.

“Ungrateful.”

“Keo-heok… everyone is being too much…”

Hector lagged behind as if sinking, feeling a huge sense of betrayal from his friends.

Demona bragged, unconcerned.

“But isn’t the pop quiz no big deal? It’s easy at this level?”

At that, the friends looked at Demona with pity.

…By now, they weren’t even dumbfounded.

“You almost failed if you weren’t careful, Demona.”

When Roan spoke like this, Demona asked in surprise.

“Eeeeh? Why?!”

“Of course, because…”

Roan wondered if he really had to explain this.

Because even if he explained it with all his might, she would undoubtedly ask, ‘Why is that failing?’

Actually, since she had succeeded in the Primitive Prayer for now, it was hard to outright call it a failure.

As Roan hesitated for a moment, Rafia spoke instead.

“Honestly, Demona, your fire was a bit strange… Don’t make kind Roan say things like this.”

*Flinch—*

Hearing the words ‘kind Roan,’ both Roan and Sion flinched at the same time.

And they looked at each other simultaneously.

”Why are you?”

And Demona asked, not deviating a single inch from Roan’s expectations.

“Why is that failing? It’s fire anyway.”

“That is true, but…”

Rafia hesitated, at a loss for an answer.

The one who liberated her was not Roan or the friends, but a new figure.

—Student Darc! Student Roan Darc!

A paladin was running from the entrance of the Great Temple of Nerchiora, calling Roan.

“Roan, did you do something wrong?”

“No way.”

In fact, he had done many things wrong, but it didn’t matter as long as he wasn’t caught.

Once Roan calmly revealed his position, the paladin quickly arrived right in front of him.

“What is the matter?”

—Phew… someone has arrived from the Holy Emperor’s Palace! Let us go quickly.

“From the Holy Emperor’s Palace?”

Roan’s eyes narrowed.

Someone had come from the Holy Emperor’s Palace because of him.

Conveniently, there was a likely reason.

Just as Roan was about to nod, Demona was startled next to him.

“Ah, this time it’s definitely expul— Keo-heok!”

To be precise, before she could even be properly startled, she was hit by a curse magic Roan cast and ended up crawling on the floor.

Roan asked nonchalantly, as if it weren’t his doing.

“Is it perhaps because of the private audience with Jelsroin?”

The paladin was flustered looking at Demona splayed out on the floor, but nodded half-heartedly.

—Ah, yes, that is correct.

“Let’s go.”

—Uh… what about this student?

“She is used to it. She will be fine in a little bit.”

—Eh?